Pioneer rolled out a sleek new portable Blu-ray XL drive compatible with Macs, the BDR-XU02JM. Measuring 133 x 133 x 12 mm (WxDxH, without stand), and measuring 245 g, the drive stays slim thanks to its slot-in disc loading mechanism, which along with the silvery metal body, complements the new breed of ODD-less MacBooks.

The BDR-XU02JM from Pioneer can write single- and double-layer BD-R discs at speeds of up to 6X; triple- and quadruple-layer ones at 4X; BD-R (LtH) at 6X, single-, double-, and triple-layer BD-RE discs at 2X, DVDs up to 8X, and CDs up to 24X. The drive uses a single USB 2.0 cable for both host-connectivity and power. It features a 4 MB buffer. It is slated for later this month, beginning with the Japanese market.